Saturday, May 1

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to God in heaven.
—Matthew 5:16

We are asked from early childhood what we want to be when we grow up. We look around us, we look within, we listen to others, and we experiment with different possibilities until we eventually settle on a course of action. 

What we choose may or may not continue for the span of our working lives, may or may not truly reflect the passion of our heart, may or may not echo the gifts of heaven placed in our being when we were shaped within the darkness of our mother’s womb.

When we are feeling that what we do is not reflecting who we are, it may be that we have not allowed our work lives to be aligned with the purposes of the Holy One. Our role in life is not merely to perform work so that we fill out the days of our allotted life, or even to make a difference on this planet that we inhabit with the rest of humanity.

Our role is to allow the gifts of light, given to us by God, to shine out with startling brilliance. To un-self-consciously let our lives be the lamp that lights the path for others to glimpse heaven’s gate. When we do that, we find ourselves unexpectedly giving high praise to God and our own hearts are strangely filled.

O God, never let me underestimate the power of your life in me as an avenue for others to find and praise you.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2004.